'Places like Limerick are thriving' - leading economist powers up Engine
LEADING economist David McWilliams has praised Limerick’s mix of businesses describing it as “thriving”.
Mr McWilliams, who is considered one of the world’s most influential financial experts, was the keynote speaker at the first Economic Briefing event held in the Engine building this Thursday.
Here, he addressed the opportunities which arise in inflationary times, such as is the case across the world now, with the cost of living crisis.
Among his calls were for banks to lend to young entrepreneurs on a wider scale using different methods of financial security, and changing the educational system to recognise the abilities of students who might not do well in their Leaving Certificate.
He has praised the progression of Limerick in the last 13 years from being in a situation where the predominant employer was Dell in Raheen, which shed 1,900 jobs back in 2009.
"Places like Limerick are absolutely thriving now, having gone up and down. One of the factors is this idea that it is a multicultural place. I don’t just mean it in the economic or social sense of different people, but in the sense there are many different diverse companies here. The worst thing to be in economics is monocultural, that we are all dependent on the one company like we were with Dell many years ago. Now there are thousands of small companies doing their own thing, and that’s a healthy eco-system, and I think that’s working here,” he told Limerick Live.
On education, he said: “I just don’t think we should reward one type of intelligence. I think we should figure out a system that acknowledges there are thousands of different types of intelligence in the world and funnelling them all through a more academic funnel creates a certain type of rewards system which rewards a certain type of brain. I think we need to figure out a way of rewarding various types of brains, so we don’t besmirch or belittle kids at an early age.”
At the start of his address, Mr McWilliams admitted he has always had a “sweet spot” for Limerick dating back to his own teenage years.
"When I was in a kid, I was in an Irish college called Ballingeary in West Cork. The only girl who gave me the time of day was a girl from Laurel Hill. Your memories at 15 are the ones who stay with you for the rest of your life, so I’ve always had a sweet spot for Limerick,” he smiled.
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